Jocelyn Watkin is a woman with many passions. “I love my tai chi and qigong, which I do several times a week. I enjoy laid-back cycles rides, going for walks and making earth art from leaves and twigs that I find along the way. I love swimming in the sea and do a lot of surfing in the summer.”
Another thing she’s passionate about is helping others, particularly rangatahi/young people. For three years now, she has been an active fundraiser for Mindfulness Month, a month-long event that challenges participants to focus on the here and now, all while raising funds to support the Mental Health Foundation uplift the wellbeing of young people.
Mindfulness as a practice is something Jocelyn wishes she learnt about earlier, when she was on a journey of recovery from PTSD. “I didn’t know about mindfulness then or the amazing health benefits of tai chi. While this knowledge wouldn't have prevented my PTSD, I know it would have helped my recovery.”
Her introduction to mindfulness was through journalling, and since then she’s taken a deep dive and now teaches tai chi and restorative journalling techniques to others.
“I encourage anyone to try nature journalling, by sitting in the back garden, on their balcony or at a local park and focusing on what they can hear – bird song, a plane flying over, children playing – and then what they can see before them, mindfully focusing on the here and now, and doodling, writing or drawing a mind map, whatever they like as an observation of being in nature.”
She is eager for others to understand that even small moments of mindfulness can make a huge positive difference.
“Mindfulness can be an oasis of peace in our busy lives, things like deep breathing can help in times of urgent need, and longer-term it can help us to unwind, feel calmer and more settled.”
Near the end of Mindfulness Month this year, Jocelyn organised a special fundraiser combining some of her favourite mindfulness activities. She hosted an exhilarating e-bike ride for eight participants, along the Te Awa Great New Zealand River Ride by the Waikato River, capped off with a calming tai chi session in the peaceful Hamilton Gardens.
She organised generous sponsorship from River Riders NZ and Electrify NZ Botany who provided free e-bike hire, helmets and minibus transport to and from Auckland.
“I find when you tell people what you’re doing and why, they’re keen to do what they can to help, and that was the case with these amazing businesses, who were also really impressed with the focus on rangatahi.”
Jocelyn was thrilled to have cracked the $1000 fundraising mark, and says as rewarding as that is, she’s also received the gift of connection through the new friendships she has discovered with other fundraisers who took part in Mindfulness Month.